Sunday, September 21, 2008

Squero Scene - Bending Wood with Fire

Here's a photo, taken a few years back, at Squero Canaletto in Venice.

Sean Antonioli was entrusted with many tasks, and he learned a lot about Venetian boat building.Here, he was caught in the act of "bending wood with fire" - one of the coolest parts of the craft.Traditionally, swamp-cane is used as it produces an almost moist smoke, but in a pinch, a propane torch will also work.

I just got an interesting e-mail from Sean:He's been working in NYC for a company that builds things for display windows in department stores. One of the funny things he wrote:I was doing carpentry work for them. It's funny...you make big things small and small things big. I made a 3 and a half foot high jack in the box. Hey Sean, I'll be in Manhattan in December - I'll try to find that giant jack-in-the-box and get a photo.

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About Me

Greg Mohr – Husband, dad, gondolier.
President of Gondola Adventures, Inc.
www.gondola.com
and president of the Gondola Society of America
(which basically means that I’m the most hopeless of all the gondola fanatics).

GONDOLAS IN AMERICA

For years I’ve said that“Most gondola operations are the best kept secret in their town”As president of the Gondola Society of America, one of my goals is to change that and help people find gondolas wherever they are.Here is a list of gondola operations in North America:The fine print -States are listed alphabetically, California operations are listed south-to-north.Not all of the listings below have Venice-built boats.Some operations are seasonal and may not have boats in the water during winter.If you know of an operation that’s not listed here, I’d like to hear about it.If you have a complaint about something on this list, count to ten, if you’re still angry – take a gondola cruise, because you probably need to relax.